5.0-inch Samsung Galaxy S 4 to Be Globally Available in March 2013? (Update)

Update: In a "likely" twist of events, Samsung has taken to their Twitter account to clear the air about the alleged upcoming Galaxy S 4 by claiming the rumor is untrue. We can't say for sure whether this is part of some elaborate publicity stunt but it has definitely gotten some eyeballs back on Samsung in the midst of a heated iPhone 5 wait.

The competition between Samsung and Apple just got hotter. Numerous reports have pointed to a possible MWC February 2013 launch and a global release in March for its next flagship phone, the Galaxy S IV/4 based on the claims of executives at Samsung. To give some background information about the popular Galaxy S series: the Samsung Galaxy S III was unveiled in May this year at their press event in London while its predecessor showed its face for the first time at MWC 2011.

SlashGear - "The new phone will be revealed at Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, an unnamed executive from Samsung told The Korea Times, with a global release in March; the biggest change could be a bigger screen, now up to 5-inches according to the insider source."

If the above rumor is to be true, this will place the Android Galaxy S 4 in the same "phablet" category as its recently announced cousin, the 5.5-inch Galaxy Note II. This also makes it much bigger than the screen on the S III (4.8-inch) and the S II (4.3-inch). While it is unclear at this point in time on whether Samsung will feature a flexible panel on the device, SlashGear has reported that Samsung will be sticking with its own OLED technology.

Of course, LTE and Samsung’s own Exynos quadcore chipsets will make an appearance as well, with the camera reported to be 13-megapixels, a bump from the Galaxy S III's own 8-megapixel camera.

SlashGear - “Samsung wants to keep its one-year product schedule and the Galaxy S4 will be the first to match that strategy” a local Samsung partner apparently told the Korean paper. “The S4 will see some external changes but retain its popular rectangular shape with rounded corner concept.”